


Years Worth Of Seconds

by dory_1897



Category: Critical Role (Web Series)
Genre: Canon Related, Chance Meetings, Family Reunions, Gen, Implied/Referenced Character Death, Reunions, Spoilers, any typos are because i typed this up in four hours in a caffeine fugue, but also said spoilers are messy because i'm messy, fanfic time is weird so all the kids are young adults but the nein are their current ages, meeting your little brother on the side of the road is a time
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-02-18
Updated: 2019-02-17
Packaged: 2019-10-30 16:31:11
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,106
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17832122
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dory_1897/pseuds/dory_1897
Summary: Sometimes, the family you've built yourself overlaps with your blood family in the most unexpected ways. Sometimes, the two meet in the most unexpected places.Or, Beau and her brother meet, along with every other child NPC the M9 has ever interfaced with. Plus, the M9 is on their way to visit Molly, so everyone's a little on edge.





	Years Worth Of Seconds

**Author's Note:**

> The Mighty Nein have interacted with too many kids for this story to not be inevitable. This covers most of them in their own adventuring party.

Thibault Lionett knew he had a sister somewhere out in the world, but his family was here, around this fire. The eight of them had made camp early for the night after a fight with a displacer beast that had broken Twiggy’s ribs, and sitting off to the side of Glory Run Road as Jude healed her, they all appreciated the break from traveling. Kiri and Ombo were signing rapidly about watch shifts, Luke and Toya leaned against Kermit’s side in comfortable silence, Asar began the sleep circle ritual, and Thibault meditated, watching the flames crackle in the cooling fall air. The road nearby was quiet in the nearing sunset hours. They were safe, they were together, and he felt the wholeness that was close to him ever since he’d left home and joined them all.

* * *

 

Beau knew she had a brother somewhere out in the world, but her family was here, in a slow-moving cart, making its way up the Glory Run Road. Her head rested on Yasha’s shoulder, while the other flipped through her flowers slowly. Jester was laid across the floor of the wagon, her tail worrying her hair as she drew in her journal. Fjord and Nott ribbed at each other halfheartedly as they watched the landscape roll past them. Frumpkin was in hawk form, circling the sky, and Caleb watched through his eyes, his hand resting on Caduceus’ back while the latter lead the horses. They had another day’s worth of travel after today, and they could all feel the weight of their destination grow with every mile. Still, despite the ache of loss, she felt the wholeness that was close to her ever since she’d left home and her journey had begun.

* * *

 

Asar noticed the cart first, pausing mid-spell to point it out to the rest of the group. It wasn’t anything unusual in itself, but the assortment of people caught his eye. He couldn’t explain it, but something felt familiar about them, even from the distance. Despite Twiggy’s insistence that she could catch up with it, Jude insisted that she didn’t move, so Thibault and Kiri made their careful way to the side of the road to keep an eye on the passing wagon.

The pink haired firbolg and the redheaded human in the front didn’t look threatening, the latter especially so with his glazed over eyes and his firm hand on the other as a guide. He skimmed the passengers in the back, almost dismissing them all until he saw her. A woman with his mother’s eyes, his father’s skin tone, robes a blue just like his own. A nervous panic unlike anything he’d known before filled Thibault and he reached to pull Kiri back, only to find that she was not where she had been just moments before. Instead, she was standing on the road, dangerously in the wagon’s path, shouting in a voice he only associated with her cursing. “Yes, I’m very sweet!”

 

The sound of Jester’s voice coming from outside the cart jerked Beau to her feet. That, and the horses stopping short. She peered over to the front, ready to jump down and fight, only to see Jester already clambering down to a small feathered girl. “Kiri?” The sight had her blinking hard. How long had it been since they’d all last seen her? What was she doing on the road? And would they have to explain- well. That would come after giving the kenku a hug. Beau joined the small crowd around Kiri, listening to Jester chatter more questions than what she’d been wondering and not allowing any space for answers. Waiting for a breath to speak, she scanned the roadside, and when she saw a movement in the grass. She raced over and lifted them up to standing, fist pulled back to punch only coming to a halt when she met the eyes of a near perfect mirror.

“Who the fuck are you?” She knew already, but the question needed to be asked. Her brother, here, with the little kid her friends had once picked up. Not to mention his monk vestiges. It felt like a sick joke, and this close to everything else. The anxiety on his face barely made her feel better about the shock to her system.

 

“What did they name you?”

“My name’s Thibault Beauregard Lionett. I guess you’re-”

“They gave you my name. How conservationist of them.”

“In my defense, I was under the assumption that you were dead until I got to the monast-”

“They told you I was dead? Figures.”

“They barely told me anything about you. Everything I know is from vague past tense sentences about you and what the Cobalt Soul had on record.”

“Did they send you there, too?”

“No. I chose to- I left home to go. Mother and Father didn’t take well to that.”

“I’m sure they didn’t. What are you doing out here with Kiri?”

“How do you know Kiri?”

“That’s not important. Answer my question.”

“We travel together. A bunch of us do.”

“Fucking amazing. My little brother’s an adventurer.”

“I have a name.”

“It’s mostly my name.”

 

He stepped away from her as soon as she released her grip on his arm, and he began to breathe a little more easily. She was gruff, sure, but at least his sister wasn’t cruel. His sister. Beauregard. It seemed absurd that they would meet on the road, of all places. The last place the Cobalt Soul’s records had placed her was beyond the enemy lines in Xhorhas. How she had found her way into the middle of the Empire from there was beyond him. And even stranger was that she knew Kiri. Kiri, who was being hugged repeatedly by the blue tiefling who had been traveling with Beauregard. Who apparently cursed in said tiefling’s voice. It was more than he could ever anticipate from a simple journey, that was for sure.

 

She watched him take in her friends, his name on her mind. Their name, really. Had their parents really gone that far in cutting her off? It felt like it should hurt more, but as Beau flipped it over in her mind, she realized that she didn’t particularly care. Maybe that would change later, but for now, she had other things to worry about. Namely, getting off the road. With this reunion, whatever it was, they were losing sunlight. It looked like the Mighty Nein was camping for the evening. And with her brother, at that.

 

“Where’s the rest of your party?”

“A little ways into the treeline. Do you want to-”

“If you wouldn’t mind.It’s getting dark.”

“Sure. I’m sure the others wouldn’t mind. Kiri, let’s take them to everyone else, yeah?”

“This means we are friends.”

“That’s Caleb’s voice. How long has it been since she’s mimicked that?”

“She’s never done it around me.”

“That’s wild. She must have so many new phrases.”

“She talks plenty. And between signing and writing, the mimicry thing isn’t much of a problem.”

“I’d imagine. Damn. It’s been a while.”

“So there’s you and Caleb and…?”

“Oh. Caleb’s the other human. Ginger over there. The hawk’s his familiar. Caduceus is the firbolg. He’s chill. He can definitely see into your soul. Jester’s the one who’s been falling all over Kiri. She pretty much adopted her when we first met her. Made us save her in the first place. The goblin is Nott. She’s not like other goblins. Which sounds really shitty and stereotypical for both sides but it’s true for a bunch of reasons. Fjord is the half-orc. He’s a good guy, a little impulsive, but somehow also the most tactical out of us all. Yasha over there’s the strongest of us all. She doesn’t talk much but she’s the best of us. And then there’s me.”

 

She pointed them all out as they walked to the camp, and Thibault tried to commit all of the facts and names to memory. Beauregard’s flow was broken up by her talking to the others, joking with them, and shaking her head at any of them who started to asking about him. It was comforting to see her like this. It made the gnawing nerves in Thibault’s chest subside to see that she had a family, despite what their parents had done to her. Maybe she wouldn’t be so angry at him for taking their attention. Then again, why did he need approval from a sister he had spent most of his life not knowing about? They arrived at the others and he pushed the question aside, instead calling to the others to let them know about their companions for the night.

 

Beau could barely keep a laugh from escaping at the mass of familiar faces around her brother’s campfire. Of course he traveled with every other kid they had met on their journeys. Of course the path they had woven around the Empire had connected a bunch of children. Well, not children now, but the point stood. The others also brightened, except Nott, who immediately froze at the sight of Luke. Luke, who had a giant badger at his side, almost as tall as him. And then Yasha, almost bolting into the woods when Toya laughed at the Shuster kid’s joke. Beau squeezed her hand as Caleb rested his hand on Nott’s shoulder. They could make it through one night. It would make the next day’s journey harder, but it was hard enough to start.

 

“So that’s Twiggy, and Asar, and Ombo, and Jude-”

“You wouldn’t believe me if I told you that I know everyone here, would you.”

“How?”

“Twiggy stowed away on our boat for a week. We saved Kiri from a crocodile in a swamp, and left her with the Shuster family, after we got the kid’s parents out of jail. My friends got kidnapped by the same people as Asar, and on our way to rescue them, we met Ombo. Then you and I are, well, what we are.” She paused.

“I have questions.”

“Go for it.”

“You owned a ship?”

“Technically, still do. I’m the first mate, Fjord’s the captain. We rent it out when we’re not on the coast.”

“You also didn’t say if you know Luke and Toya.”

“Those aren’t my stories. But we know them, trust me.”

“If you say so.”

“Tell me about all of you, from your perspective.”

“Really?”

“Why not? I told you about my party.”

“Fair. Well, I trained with the Cobalt Soul. I still do, technically, whenever we’re in Zadash. Toya fights and does some magic. She prefers fighting, but her voice can do some incredible things. Ombo has some magic because of his giant blood. Asar also does magic, but his doesn’t come from that. He’s a druid, which apparently runs in his family. We’re on our way to visit his family now, actually. Kiri can fight really well. She started out doing that to protect Jude and his siblings, and I guess because of you guys. Jude is a cleric for the Changebringer. It hasn’t caused us problems together yet, but we know it has in the past, so he doesn’t really worship in front of us. Twiggy is a wildcard in most things, but she’s sneaky and good with magic and honestly fun to be around. But don’t make her laugh right now, she got messed up in our last fight. And Luke and Kermit are a unit. They hunt and track, and when Luke’s leg is acting up, he can ride Kermit. We do okay for ourselves.”

“He named the badger Kermit?”

“Yeah, before any of us met him.”

“I bet Nott-” She cut herself off.

* * *

 

Around them as they spoke, the two parties reintroduced themselves to one another. It was tentative at first, both sides unsure of how to address their closeness in beginnings and distance in journey. But once Yasha sat down next to Toya, everyone began to relax and share stories. They caught each other up, and Beau finally introduced herself as Thibault’s sister, and and him as her brother. The two families began poking fun at the similarities and the differences, falling into a rhythm. Nott slowly made her way over to Luke and spoke with him, her guard coming down as much as she could allow without telling him who she really was. The fire burned down as Caleb and Asar set up protective sleep bubbles over the group. They all settled in to rest for the night, and as they all began to drift off, only Thibault and Beau heard Toya murmur sleepily to Yasha, “But where’s Molly?”

**Author's Note:**

> In case anyone wants the classes for the kids, here goes:  
> Toya-valor bard; Kiri- scout fighter, protection style fighting; Jude Shuster-luck domain cleric; Ombo-giant soul sorcerer; Asar-circle of dreams druid; Twiggy-arcane trickster rogue; Thibault-Cobalt Soul monk; Luke-beastmaster ranger, giant badger companion (Kermit)
> 
> Any feedback appreciated!


End file.
